Category Archives: Math

Summer Math Enrichment

Dear parents,

this post relates to families of students in my 5th grade math class.

The amazing math program that we have started using this year, Think Through Math, has been a helpful support for students. Each student has personalized lessons and practice using the online learning system, and it’s highly engaging for them as they receive points and often have the chance to play games as they progress through lessons.

This summer, ACPS is asking that students continue their math learning on Think Through Math, and has partnered with the public libraries and other organizations to provide outlets for students to access TTM if they do not have Internet access on a computer at home.

Please let me know if you would like me to send you your child’s login information for Think Through Math! 

In an effort to encourage students to continue to strengthen their math skills and prepare to be a top thinker in the fall, all students will be enrolled in the Think Through Math Summer Math Splash Student Think Challenge.

All students who work on Think Through Math between June 13th and August 4th will have the opportunity to win, see below for prizes.

From the TTM Website: 

Weekly Beat the Heat Challenge
Each week, students that pass at least 3 math lessons will be entered into a random drawing for an Amazon.com e-gift card valued at $25.

All you need to do is complete and PASS at least 3 math lessons during the week (Monday through Thursday) and you will be eligible for the Weekly Beat the Heat Challenge prize.

*Ten winners will be announced each Friday and can locate their winning e-Gift Card code in the Message Center of their student page.

TTM National Big Kahuna Grand Prize
Each week that you pass three (3) TTM math lessons, you will receive one automatic entry into a random drawing for the TTM National Big Kahuna Grand Prize consisting of a solar powered backpack, a Fire 7″, 8 GB Tablet, a journal, pencils, and a TTM t-shirt.

The more weeks that you PASS 3 math lessons, the more entries you will earn to go back to school in style with the coolest technology. There will be 10 National Big Kahuna Grand Prize winners!

*National Big Kahuna Grand Prize winners will be announced at the conclusion of the contest and the prize pack will be hand delivered by a TTM Representative to the students 2016-17 attending school.

 

5th Grade Math: SOL test begins tomorrow!

This post relates to any students in 5th grade math.
Part one of the Math SOL is tomorrow, Thursday, June 2. This section is the shorter section but is computation-heavy. No calculators are used for this section.  Homework tonight is to get some exercise, get a good night’s sleep, and have a good breakfast. Time to rock the test!

The second and final portion of the test will be on Friday, June 3.

All students in 6th grade math will be taking their SOL test in one sitting, on Friday, June 3.

Thank you!

Math 5 Update

Dear families,

I hope this weather finds you well! This post relates to my 3rd block math class.

Our class has just started using Think Through Math, a personalized online supplemental math program. All students began by taking a “placement test”, an adaptive test that determined what areas of strength students have as well as any gaps or challenges in all the strands of math.

The program then will take them through a series of lessons with practices designed to build up their background knowledge and help them take on more challenging problems. Games, points and badges are built into the program for motivation, and students can even donate their points to a charity to give back to the world!

I have attached a copy of the parent letter that went home today. Your child has a unique login with username and password that he/she should have written on your letter. Please ask your child about it and have them show you how it works!

One way to support your child’s math development at home would be to encourage him/her to work on TTM (Think Through Math) at least one afternoon/evening per week at home for 15-20 minutes. Thank you for your support!

Think Through Math Parent Letter

Math 5 Update

Dear families,

we have started a new unit on fractions! Our big goals for this unit are…

  • identifying equivalent fractions
  • comparing and ordering fractions and decimals
  • adding and subtracting fractions with like and unlike denominators

We have already been working on identifying equivalent fractions. We have also begun using strategies to compare fractions. We have used models, pictures, number lines, and benchmark numbers (0, 1/2 and 1) to compare fractions. We are starting to learn how to find the Least Common Denominator to compare fractions.

Attached is the unit study guide in English and in Spanish for your perusal at home.

We are also continuing each week to do fact fluency tests. Please help your children practice their multiplication and division facts to 12 for about 10 minutes each day so they can pass all levels of the tests! They can use First In Math or even old-school notecards to practice.

Fraction Study Guide Kessinger with the Spanish version

Fraction Study Guide Kessinger

Math 5 Update

Dear families,

This post is in regards to my math 5 class (third block).

We have just begun our new unit on division! Students have shown a mixed level of background in division, so we are going to start with a review of the division strategy they learned last year; and eventually, all the students in the class will know how to use the traditional method of division (the way we were all taught) in order to solve long division problems.

Throughout the unit, it is of utmost importance that students are solid on their basic multiplication facts in order to solve division problems correctly. The best way you can help your child is to make multiplication facts flash cards with them and practice with them a little (maybe 10 minutes) every day – that will make division so much more efficient and easy for them.

In addition, if you allow them Internet access at home, there are tons of great games and practice activities on First In Math (they know what it is and how to log in) that will give them more practice with all the operations.

Next week, we will also begin a new weekly math challenge that will be given as a choice in addition to our other class work. This challenge will require them to stretch their math thinking and try many different approaches to a problem. Students who have shown a strong background in division will be spending their class time next week working through this problem; but please note that it may still require some time at home. Other students who would like to attempt the problem will be given it as a choice, but will have to work on it at home.

As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch!

Update: 5th grade math

Dear families,

this post is for families of students in my third block math class.

We have been working hard on our geometry unit for the past few weeks! Students have learned to identify different angles, triangles, and quadrilaterals, following a complex set of rules to identify various polygons and justify their thinking.

Today, they began a winter geometry art project, in which they are creating a winter scene that includes many geometric figures that are their vocabulary words. A few of them chose to bring their project home to work on over the vacation, but most people chose to leave them here to continue after break. If your child brought his or her project home, would you please encourage him or her to work on it (but please know that I am not requiring them to do this work over the vacation). We will finish them as a review of our vocabulary when we return in January.

When we come back, we will have one more week with geometry to learn the parts of circles and review all of the vocabulary that we have learned so far, then we will have our test and move on to our next unit: division!

To support your child, it would be awesome if they could spend a few minutes once or twice over break just practicing their basic facts, whether on flash cards that you make with them or on our favorite website, firstinmath.com. (They all know their logins for the website.)

I hope your holiday is restful and joyful, and that you enjoy your time with your loved ones close to you!

Math 5 Update

Dear families,

finally I am updating about my math class! Please note that this only pertains to 5th grade math students who have me as their third block math teacher.

We just had our test on decimal computation. Your child should have brought his/her graded test home to be signed. If not, please ask them for it! We are now beginning our next unit in geometry. You will find attached our study guide for the unit in English and in Spanish. We have a LOT of vocabulary this unit. I encourage you to talk to your child about which words are red, yellow, and green for them (and what the colors mean!).

Please let me know if you have any questions!

geometry study guides Eng Span